More than a shop, North is a lifestyle. Based on the idea of elevated living, North combines minimal design and classic sensibility to create something different. Good is not good enough for the North community. The one thing that ties us all together is that we hold ourselves and our work to the highest standards. We make, buy, eat, drink, say, and do #onlygreatthings.

From our early days as a secret shop in southeast Portland to our current retail project downtown, North has become an arbiter of taste and a destination for the design-minded. Offering an edited selection of apparel, accessories, home goods, jewelry, and apothecary, North has been dubbed "a minimalist's dream come true". Grunge is a hippied romantic version of punk. I never like to think that I design for a particular person. I design for the woman I wanted to be, the woman I used to be, and - to some degree - the woman I'm still a little piece of. You have a more interesting life if you wear impressive clothes. Confidence. If you have it, you can make anything look good. It is difficult to talk about fashion in the abstract, without a human body before my eyes, without drawings, without a choice of fabric - without a practical or visual reality.

I try as much as possible to give you a great basic product and what comes out, I feel, is really amazing. I have my favourite fashion decade, yes, yes, yes: '60s. It was a sort of little revolution; the clothes were amazing but not too exaggerated. It is not easy to dress well. Attention to detail is of utmost importance when you want to look good. Fashion is about dressing according to what's fashionable. Style is more about being yourself.

Ant Eksiler founded North in 2012. Eksiler has over 12 years of experience in retail and design, a masters degree in marketing and brand management, and a thorough understanding of the modern retail climate. With North, Eksiler's athletic approach to retail has manifested in project-based shopping experiments, allowing the brand to adapt, break rules, and relentlessly set standards for excellence in the industry.